– but not a priority now, says President Granger

PRESIDENT David Granger has said that the construction of a bridge across the Corentyne River that would link Guyana to Suriname is still on the cards, but for now the two countries are focused on addressing short to medium-term matters of mutual interest.
President Granger made the comment shortly after concluding bilateral talks with President of Suriname Desi Bouterse, on Friday at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in Jamaica.
“No we did not speak about that today. It is on the cards but it has not been dealt with as a matter of urgency,” he told the Guyana Chronicle when approached on the matter.
Both Guyana and Suriname have expressed an interest in the construction of a bridge across the Corentyne River. To date, feasibility studies and a design of the bridge have been completed.

While the bridging of the Corentyne River remains on the to do list, President Granger said that there are other important matters engaging the attention of the two countries such as the issue of piracy.

“We are looking to deal with issues which can be resolved in the short and middle term to ensure that there is no lawlessness, as occurred in April,” the President said.

In late April and early May, this year, there were two separate attacks on five Suriname-registered fishing vessels with 25 fishermen, most of whom were Guyanese. Nine of the men survived the grisly attack while at least 12 have been confirmed as missing and presumed dead.

The alleged mastermind, Primnauth Persaud, 43, called “Sinbad” of Cromarty Village, and his co-accused Nakool Manohar, popularly known as “Fyah” of Number 43 Village, were later charged with two counts of murder, for allegedly killing Mahesh Sarjoo and Tillacknauth Mohabir, both fishermen, during a piracy attack in Suriname. That matter is still being investigated and local police have formally requested to be allowed to interrogate the suspects who were arrested and remain in custody in Suriname.

In Guyana, June 25, 2018 was observed as a National Day of Mourning in memory of the murdered fishermen.

President Granger said his meeting with President Bouterse was an agenda setting one.
“Unfortunately, because of various reasons I have been travelling a lot and we have not been able to have our regular meetings, so we are just reviewing the changing situation in the Caribbean and also on the continent of South America, and in a sense we are setting the agenda for future meetings,” the President explained.

Vice President and Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Greenidge and Ambassador Audrey Waddell formed part of the Guyanese delegation.

The meeting between the Guyanese and Surinamese Presidents was held on the margins of the 39th Regular Meeting of the Conference of the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).